The Relic (Cradle of Darkness #2) - Addison Cain Page 0,3

was pain in those sky-blue eyes.

A flush to cheeks that were fair and high. Dark hair, long and luxurious.

She drank every drop I might squeeze from my veins, swallowed as I gathered her close.

And was so very afraid of me.

That wouldn’t do. So, ever the charmer, I spun our tale. Starting at the beginning—this new beginning. “Your name in this life is Pearl. Mine these days is Vladislov. And I have been waiting for you for an eternity.”

Chapter Two

Vladislov

Brittle in my arms—half corpse, half goddess—I carried my soul’s new form from dust-laden catacombs. As I was in a bit of a mood, any who happened upon me during our jaunt had the unfortunate luck of finding out what they too might one day become should they truly embrace what they were… what human nightmares were born from.

Leathery wings dragged upon the floor at my back, arched over my shoulders, protectively encasing what blindly fought to be free of my care.

It was not just the potency of my blood that had driven her mad. A great deal had been done to my bride. Horrors that were creative—that might have impressed me—had they been unleashed on another.

The lack of effort required to see just how mangled the mind, how traumatized the body, how wrecked the spirit… it was difficult to control my anger.

My gift of blood had left me with a thirst that had not burned the back of my throat in centuries. My veins were bone-dry, and still she was broken.

But I sought no meal. Such irrelevant urges could wait an eternity.

Those curious vampires peeking from their rooms saw what should not exist, and then they saw no more. It took less than a thought to pop their little skulls and leave a mess for another to clean once my path was happened upon. For my darling was too fragile—hundreds if not thousands of years away from learning how to mist through space. More fragile even than the rags on her body flaking away with every writhe as Pearl fought my hold.

She might as well have tried to fight a titan.

There would be explanations and apologies later. I would tend every wound that marked the flesh of her new body, be gentler with her than I had been with any creature since before time. Or at least time by history’s reckoning.

Screaming a great deal, despite how I pat. A mewling, toothless kitten, at once pushing the cracked inferno of my flesh and drawing away from the inhuman texture. Pitch-black flesh, my eyes a glow of red in my temper, in my elation, in suffering through a mix of emotion I’d forgotten existed.

All I had been over all the ages, all the battles, all the children, all the optimization of a species, had always been something to fill the time.

Grief? That, on occasion, teased the outskirts of my thoughts. Dedication? I was nothing if not decided. Boredom? It consumed me utterly.

The world, with all its modern marvels, was really no more exciting today than it had been when my armies swept entire civilizations under my feet. And I suppose, in a way, I was also a touch… probably, yes… irritated my love had left me waiting so long.

She’d always been particular. She’d always been beautifully difficult.

Formidable.

Yet I was so beyond in love it stole my breath. So very piqued that rage almost eclipsed joy. The ground shook again under my feet. Sending my children fleeing in the opposite direction of my march.

Seemed not all of Darius’ flock was as stupid as they appeared.

Yes, I’d be the first to admit it wasn’t princely to lose one’s temper in such a fashion. But I wasn’t a prince. I was no longer a king. I was a God!

A God who’d found his Goddess trapped in a tomb, withered in mind and body.

Did she just try to bite me again?

What joy! Kissing her crown, I’d never felt more in love.

So cute. Just like the first time she tried to slit my throat all those ages ago.

Our wedding night.

How fond that memory. So fond that I felt the need to cuddle my hissing, screamed-herself-hoarse darling closer.

I might’ve been old, but I was not senseless to female tendencies. I understood Pearl’s terror. It was more than just the current state of my body that brought on this paroxysm. More than my strength, my size, my altered nature.

My bride’s only interaction with others of our kind had been….

Maybe I would just kill them all. Five or six handpicked old